Larry Shenk, Vice President of Alumni Relations, shares his notes, quotes and anecdotes from the world of baseball.

USA Wins Bronze Medal

Big Burrell ABGreg Maddux, a crafty veteran who specializes in low pitch counts, had recorded 11 outs on 29 pitches until Pat battled him for a 10-pitch walk in the fourth last night. Ryan followed with an opposite field homer to jump-start the offense and break a six-game losing streak against the Dodgers.

August now stands at 10-10 with nine games left.

Kyle again battled command issues but again battled and kept his team in the game. Bullpen shut the door after he left in the sixth.

Offense produced three homers among 10 hits, more typical of this team’s makeup. Bottom of the lineup, led by Coste, came through with five RBI. Now, we need to get the top of the order back to normal.

A ReminderFor you Phillies fans spread around the country, next three games are on national TV, FOX (3:55 this afternoon), ESPN (8:05 tomorrow night) and ESPN2 (7:05 Monday night).

Beijing UpdateUSA defeated Japan, 8-4, to win a bronze medal last night at the Olympics.

Shortstop Jason Donald hit one of three USA home runs, a two-run shot that upped the score to 8-2. He also singled in one other at-bat and scored twice. Reading Phillies teammate Lou Marson didn’t play. Both batted over .300 in the Olympics. They will return to the Reading Phillies early next week.

“Jason has played great the whole time,” said manager Davey Johnson. “He hit a two-run shot that really put the game out of reach.”

The medal ceremonies will take place following the Korea-Cuba championship game today. USA team will fly home to Washington, DC, tomorrow night.

Minor League NotesReading RHP Andrew Carpenter (6-8) pitched 2-hit ball over 7 scoreless innings in 2-1 win at Trenton . . . Clearwater CF Quintin Berry stole 3 bases in 8-4 loss, increasing season total to 48; he’s 7 shy of his Lakewood total of a year ago . . . LHP Joe Savery (8-10), who had won 5 of his last 6 decisions, was the loser for Clearwater . . . C Travis D’Arnaud is hitting .464 in his first 7 games at Lakewood; the 19-year-old was promoted from Williamsport after hitting .309 in 48 games for the Crosscutters.

This DateIn Phillies history……..1883 Phillies are charged with 27 errors in a game against Providence (walks, wild pitches and passed balls all were charged as errors prior to 1888). Imagine if there was TV back then. The highlight shows would have taken forever replaying 27 errors.

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